Queen Sofia Inaugurates the Museum which Houses Original Fossils Found in Atapuerca

Spanish Queen Sofia (R) listens to explanations from the co-director of the Atapuerca archaeological site, Juan Luis Arsuaga (2nd R), during her tour of the inauguration of the Museum of Human Evolution of Burgos July 13, 2010. The Museum of Human Evolution is the only one in the world with 200 original human fossils, according to Antonio Jose Mencia, the museum's director of communication. REUTERS/Felix Ordonez.

BURGOS.-The Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos opened its doors to the public after Queen Sofia inaugurated the facility yesterday accompanied by institutional representatives responsible for the center and part of the Atapuerca research team. In her tour of the museum, Sofia received explanations by the project architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg, noting the main parts of the museum, giving special attention to the original fossils found in the mountains of Burgos, the gallery of hominids and parts of the museum that explain the studies of Charles Darwin and Santiago Ramon y Cajal.

The opening of the Museum of Human Evolution is a culmination of a project that began in 1999 when then mayor, Angel Olivares, announced his intention of devoting the solar Cavalry, which was used as a parking lot  as a complex dedicated to Atapuerca, which would become a research center and a regional museum. The president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Juan Vicente Herrera, said yesterday in his speech that this museum is "a unique opportunity" to attract talent and "scientific, cultural and economic benefits" to the capital of Burgos, whose citizens attributed the 'prominence and success " of this project.

Herrera, who said the aim of the regional administration will, henceforth, be the "national and international projection" of this center, had words of praise for the former socialist mayor of the city, "who left a clear vision and the idea of using the finings at Atapuerca for Burgos. " The head of the regional government also agreed with the current mayor, Juan Carlos Aparicio, and with professionals in the administration of the community who have worked on the project, scientists and researchers, the co-directors of Atapuerca and Juan Navarro, author of the project, Museum of Human Evolution, which he described as "bright, intelligent and transparent."

The Museum of Human Evolution will "allow man to reflect on the future of species," according to Eudald Carbonell, one of the co-directors of the research team, who believes that the visitor will call particular attention to the selection of original fossils contained in the basement, because he or she may come into contact with 30 years of research in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The most important findings, among them the remains of Homo Antecessor and parts known as' Miquelon ',' Elvis' or 'Excálibur'-are located inside of the pills that explain the main deposits. Carbonell explained that Queen Sofia had shown interest in these remains, "around the building and how it has been technically and scientifically presented the museum."